A new species and a key to the genus Leiurus Ehrenberg, 1828 (Scorpiones, Buthidae) from Saudi Arabia

By

Al-Qahtni, Abdulmani H.
Al-Salem, Abdullah M.
Mesfer, Fahad
Al Balawi, Manal S.
Allahyani, Wasayf S.
R. Alqahtani, Abdulaziz
Badry, Ahmed

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2023

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

1178

Pages

293--312

Subjects

Description , identification key , Majami al-Hadb Protected Area , molecular phylogeny scorpion , taxonomy

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.1178.109083

 

Abstract

A new species, Leiurus hadb Al-Qahtni, Al-Salem, Alqahtani & Badry, sp. nov., is described and illustrated from the Majami al-Hadb Protected Area in the Riyadh Province of Saudi Arabia. The new species is compared with species of Leiurus distributed in Saudi Arabia, especially L. arabicus Lowe, Yağmur & Kovařík, 2014. The integrated results indicate that the population found in Majami al-Hadb represents a distinct species, which is described herein. Moreover, the molecular analysis is conducted on the mitochondrial gene 16S rRNA to compare L. hadb sp. nov. with samples of L. arabicus and L. haenggii from Saudi Arabia. The analysis revealed a genetic divergence ranging from 6.0 to 12%. The combination of molecular evidence and morphological characteristics provides adequate support for recognizing the Majami al-Hadb population as a distinct species. Additionally, an identification key for the genus Leiurus found in Saudi Arabia is also provided.